PHYTOCHEMICALS FROM CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES DEMONSTRATE IN CELL-CULTURE AND ANIMAL MODELS TO HAVE CANCER PREVENTIVE EFFECTS. OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES IN HUMANS HAVE SHOWN MIXED RESULTS, BUT LARGELY HAVE CORRELATED THEIR CONSUMPTION WITH DECREASED INCIDENCE OF LUNG, BREAST, COLON, AND PROSTATE CANCER. IN CONTRAST, IN CLINICAL INTERVENTION TRIALS THERE EXISTS HIGH LEVELS OF INTER-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN THE AMOUNT OF BIOACTIVE PHYTOCHEMICALS ABSORBED AND EXCRETED WHICH COINCIDES WITH VARYING LEVELS OF EFFICACY. THUS, IT HAS BEEN HYPOTHESIZED THAT VARIATION IN METABOLISM COULD BE DIRECTLY INFLUENCING EFFICACY AND BIOACTIVITY. THIS PRE-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION AIMS TO IDENTIFY BETTER BIOMARKERS OF FOOD INTAKE, AND IDENTIFY THE ROLE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME IN DRIVING INTER-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN METABOLITE GENERATION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES FOLLOWING CONSUMPTION OF SPECIFIC FOODS. MY OBJECTIVES ARE 1) UTILIZE STABLE ISOTOPE TRACING TO CHARACTERIZE METABOLOMIC CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION AND DIFFERENTIATE PLANT- AND HOST- DERIVED METABOLITES AND 2) UTILIZE MULTI-OMIC INTEGRATION TO IDENTIFY THE ROLE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME ON CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLE PHYTOCHEMICAL METABOLISM. THIS FELLOWSHIP WILL HELP ME TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS BY ALLOWING ME TO FOCUS MY EFFORTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SKILLSETS REQUIRED TO CONDUCT RESEARCH IN THE HIGHLY INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF NUTRITION. BY COMBING HUMAN CLINICAL DATA, WET BENCH LABORATORY TECHNIQUES, AND DATA SCIENCE APPROACHES TO DATA ANALYSIS, I WILL BUILD A ROBUST SET OF SKILLS THAT CAN BE APPLIED NOT ONLY TO AFRI PRIORITY AREAS OF PLANT PRODUCTS, NUTRITION AND HEALTH, AND AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY, BUT ALSO OTHER FIELDS IN THE BIOMEDICAL, FOOD, AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES.